Following strong demand in the US market for residential solar, US solar installer Sunrun increased its customer additions by more than in Q1 and posted better-than-expected financial results, while still making a loss.
Sunrun added 34,403 customers in Q2, up from the 29,463 it added in Q1, representing a 21% year-on-year growth and taking its total customer number to 724,177.
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The company installed 246.5MW of solar PV in Q2, up from 213MW in Q1, bringing its networked solar energy capacity to 5,136MW as of 30 June.
Sunrun’s net subscriber value also increased from US$7,141 in Q1 to US$7,910 in Q2. The company said its subscriber value was US$38,712 in the second quarter of 2022 while creation costs were US$30,802. Its total value generated was US$200 million in Q2 2022.
Its Q2 2022 results showed that quarterly revenue increased by 46% year-over-year to US$584.58 million, which beat average analyst estimates of less than US$500 million.
Meanwhile, it reported a quarterly net loss of US$12.4 million, or US$0.06c per share, which defied analysts who were predicting a loss of US$0.10c per share. In Q1, it reported a net loss of US$87.8 million and experienced a US$0.42c fall in share price, while increasing its loan facility to aid in equipment stockpiling.
“The Sunrun team continues to execute well, delivering significant growth in installations that exceeded our guidance,” said Danny Abajian, Sunrun’s CFO.
Total cost of revenue was US$495 million, an increase of 50% year-over-year, while total operating expenses were US$740 million, an increase of 36% year-over-year.
At the time of its Q1 results, Sunrun said it had taken a number of measures to insulate itself from upcoming headwinds in the US solar industry. “The adjustments we made to our offerings in response to higher input and capital costs earlier this year have been received well, and these changes are partially reflected in our higher net subscriber value during Q2 and our outlook is for even higher net subscriber value in Q3,” said Abajian.
Sunrun’s management expects solar energy capacity installed growth to be 25% or greater for the full-year 2022 as it reaffirmed its guidance for the year, while its net subscriber value is expected to rise to more than US$10,000 in Q3 and Q4. In Q3, the company expects solar installs to be in a range between 250MW – 260MW.
“We are laser focused on growing faster, better and stronger as we streamline how we deliver a world class experience for our customers while continuing to provide new product and technology offerings our customers,” said Sunrun CEO Mary Powell.
Powell referenced the recently agreed upon Inflation Reduction Act during the Q2 results release, arguing it would “turbocharge” the energy transition in the US.